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WASHINGTON, February 12, 2009-"This is a
Congressional spending resolution that is vital for America.
There is a huge shortfall between what the military is spending and
what it needs to spend." That's how former Senator Jim
Talent, a top defense policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation,
reacted to the introduction of a joint resolution committing
Congress to fund defense at current levels for 10 years.

The resolution, introduced today by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), calls for Congress to commit to a
sustained annual investment in defense preparedness that would
equal 4 percent of GDP-approximately $580 billion in '08
dollars.

The filing comes at a time when Congress is poised to approve a
mammoth $789 billion stimulus package. That bill follows on
the heels of last fall's $700 billion bail-out bill and Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner's plan to spend $1.5 trillion to $2
trillion more to bail out banks.

A former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Talent
said, "I hope no one in WASHINGTON has the gall to say that this
resolution is unaffordable. If the President and Congress can
spend a trillion dollars on 'make-work' projects they can fund the
vital needs of American security."

Talent called a 4 percent investment level "essential" if the
Pentagon is to "recapitalize and modernize so that our troops can
continue to protect American interests." Operations in Iraq
and Afghanistan have seriously depleted America's military supplies
and equipment, he noted. "National Guard Armories stand
vacant, their trucks used up or cannibalized for parts by troops in
the field. Yet lawmakers tell the military to cut back while
they approve a trillion dollars in spending supposedly to stimulate
the economy. It makes no sense."

Talent warned that reinvestment in defense forces could not be
safely postponed. "We have Air Force pilots flying planes
built 20 years before they were born. We have a Navy with
half the number of ships it had 20 years again. Many of our weapons
and systems are worn out or, worse, obsolete. Our military is
in danger of becoming a hollow force," he said.

"The stimulus bill carves out $448 million to build a new
building for Homeland Security, and another $248 million to furnish
it. Meanwhile our troops in Afghanistan are scrounging for
spare parts just to keep their Humvees rolling," Talent
observed.

"Senator Inhofe and Representative Franks are doing America a
tremendous service because the safety of America is literally at
stake," Talent added. To protect the country, he said,
"Congress will have to maintain defense spending at the levels
established in the Inhofe-Franks resolution."